5 Things to Expect in a Professional Football Academy (warning...offensive language)

Dr Chris Platts

Are you dreaming of being a professional footballer? In order to reach that dream, you are likely to have to compete for a scholarship at a professional football club and, hopefully, enter a club’s academy at the age of 16. Perhaps you are already there? But how much do you know about being a scholar? In this blog, I share some of the research I have done over the past 15 years in this area and serve up five ‘need to knows’ about life in an Academy. These are the top five things my research suggests scholars do not grasp before they get into an Academy and they can take you by surprise, undermining your experience.

The research I use in this blog took in the views of 303 scholars who were employed at 21 professional football clubs. I also spoke to 13 Coaches and 20 Welfare Officers. All these people spoke anonymously so they were able to share the truth about life in academies (all of their names have been changed to protect their identity).

Some of the players were in their first year and some were nearing the end of their scholarship. Some were in Premier League academies and some were in League Two. It is the largest truly independent examination of life in academies and it is here for you. It is not about sugar coating this, some of this might be hard to read. But if you are about to head into an academy, this is for you…

1. Bottom of the Pile

One of the ‘hidden rules’ that exists in an academy is that the first year scholars are the bottom of a hierarchy. What does this mean? Well, imagine a ladder and at the very start of your scholarship you will be at the bottom of the ladder. The longer people have been in the game and the higher their position in the club the further up the ladder they are from you. For example, on the step above you on this ladder are the second year scholars, on the step above them are the first year professionals and so on. Here is one of the group of players we interviewed explaining how they are viewed at their Premier League club:

Liam: Probably at the bottom like, bottom of the ladder.

Josh: We get the blame for everything.

Rob: We have to go across and collect the first team’s gear in after the training so. I don’t know it’s just

Mussa: [Interrupts] Like anything the first team do, we get the blame. If they leave a drink out, we have to pick it up.

Liam: That’s for everyone though, like everyone goes up through it.

Rob: I know it’s hard and that like, but the first team don’t win every game. We’ve been successful over the last couple of years; we still get caned don’t we?

Liam: Still get the piss taken out of us.

This view was seen across all of the clubs in the research. If that is the case then, what? does this mean for you practically when you start your scholarship? Well, here is another group of players, this time from a Championship club outlining what it means:

Ollie. Everything they ask you to do ... you have to do it. David. You get your food last. Elijah. We’re not anymore though boys, we are second years!?

Gabriel. Yeah, the first years are bottom of the food chain.

Rob. You just get told to do everything, like if boxes need moving you have go and move them.

Issac. Yeah, like, silly things, instead of drinking the bottle and bringing it in, they [professional players] will just drop it and leave it and you have to go out and pick it up.

Gabriel. Just so you have got to run.

1. Attitude is important

The second tip I will share is the idea of having a ‘good attitude’. Without exception, at every club involved in the study, coaches and players talked of the need for a ‘good attitude’ or ‘the right attitude’ if you are going to gain a professional contract at the age of 18. Here are two examples of players discussing the need for the right attitude. First a group of players at a League Two club said:

James. They tell us time and time again.

Charlie. Attitude is the main thing like, it is even bigger than football.

Ben. Only at clubs like this.

Charle. Because people say like, if you have got a bad attitude then you are never going to get anywhere.

Michael. Well you won’t.

Another group of players discussing the same thing, this time the players are at a Championship club. They said:

Miles. Well obviously you’ve got to be a good player, but you’ve got to have the right attitude as well.

Connor. If they tell you that you need to focus on something I think they want to see that you are working to improve it.

Q. What do you think a good attitude is for a footballer?

Lee. I think like if they tell you to do something just like don’t question them, just go and do it.

Miles. You can’t be like causing trouble like on the streets or up town, you got to realise that you’re playing for [club name] and er, like respect. Because at the end of the day, if you do something bad, it’ll get back to the club.

Here’s the problem and why we need to discuss it. There is no set definition of what a ‘good attitude’ is. So how do you know whether you’re showing your coaches a good attitude? Well, lucky for you, I have some insight. First it is important not to be seen to be ‘big time’. What does that mean? This group of players explain:

Stu. Say like someone who thinks they are good, knows they’re good and they won’t like

Callum. [Interrupts] Work for the team

Kieran. [Interrupts] Just arrogant basically.

Callum. They think they are better than the group that they are in so like

Stu. [Interrupts] Don’t bother working as hard as they can.

Q. And being that way undermines your chances of getting a pro in your opinion?

Mo. Like the coaches explain

Kieran. [Interrupts] They will recognize it.

Ash. Because there are people at our club who are big time.

Darryl. Or as soon as they get the pro it normally changes people. I think that’s when they normally start to get ‘big time’ …

Ash. I think the ones who are ‘big time’ are probably the ones who have already got pros. They think that they have made it if they’ve got a pro so they don’t want to work because they think ‘I am better than this’.

So not showing that you think you have made it is important. But also, you need to work hard and show respect as the following group outline:

Tim. Professionalism.

Jason. Good attitude.

Paul. Respect.

Q. What’s a good attitude?

Ronny. Hard-working, willing to do.

Tim. Hard-working, listen to what they say.

And, we need to throw into the mix, running hard, listening and working for the team as this group outline when asked what a good attitude is:

Q. What is working hard?

Carl. Running around.

Felix. Doing what everyone tells you.

Leo. Just doing the right things, make sure your attitude’s right.

Carl. Yeah, get your head down.

Q. What is the right attitude?

Carl. Just get your head down and work for the team.

Felix. Work hard for each other; don’t let yourself down, don’t let the side down

Leo. Wanting to work.

In short, a ‘good attitude’ is a group of characteristics that a coach is looking for but it might change depending on the coach. It is worth listening to what the coach says and see if you can recognise what they think a good attitude is. It is clear from my research that it is viewed as important.

1. Jobs

One of the things that I often read in the media is that the idea of scholars doing jobs around the club is a thing of the past. This is not true. I think in some ways, the jobs may have changed but you should expect to clean the boots of professionals, look after the equipment of the club, clean changing rooms and carry out some tasks you may not think are associated with being a professional. My view is that actually they are not associated with being a professional at all and I question why clubs persist with these jobs but, whatever my view, persist they do. For example, this group of players said:

Danny. That is the shittest bit, when you just have to clean boots, Hoover floors, carry boxes ’cos the kit man doesn’t want to do it himself. Just stuff like that.

Chris. Keep the place tidy really. Like it is someone’s job to do this room; it is his job to do the gym.

Ricky. Like the home team dressing room, clean up after the first team, pick up flip-flops, slips.

Robbie. They can’t even put their own gear in the bins, we have to do it all for them.

Ricky. You will find on a match day you have like four apprentices who come in ... and do jobs and whatever the gaffer wants us to do.

And this group of players at a League One club said:

Kyle. Changing rooms you have to clean up, this [one] and the home [one].

Matthew. Not a lot, like sweeping up in here, and then on match days.

Oliver. If the first team use our equipment we have to clean them up.

Matthew. Match day we have to as well.

George. Take equipment to the training ground, set it all up for the first team, and take it down.

Q. Why do you have to do those jobs?

Matthew. It’s part of the apprenticeship. It’s like, earlier on, I was saying about cleaning boots ... [getting] the respect between the pros.

1. Coaching Practices

Every coach has their own approach to coaching but you should expect to come across some odd approaches. In short, coaches like to show they are in charge and often take to what might appear strange methods to show this. For example, one group of players noted:

Dale. He will make you warm-up for the full 90 minutes and then you won’t get on.

Tom. I know, yeah. That is just stupid. That actually hurts you.

Marc. And then by the time you come on, you are knackered.

Dale. So for the starting eleven, for the first ten minutes, if they aren’t playing that well, he will tell the subs to go and warm-up. Even though he knows that the subs aren’t going to come on for now, he will tell you to go and warm-up. You can’t stretch, you are told to keep on the move.

Tom. He can get so angry.

Dale. You just keep jogging up and down and by the time you are ready to go on the pitch, you are tired.

Ebby. Then when you get on the pitch, he is expecting you to be sprinting up and down the pitch. You just can’t do it.

Likewise a group of players at a Premier League club noted how the manager would make them go for a slow walk if things were not done correctly:

Rich. You get to walk round the pitch in’nit?

Drew Oh yeah ... we never changed the water thing once, so we just had to walk round. We couldn’t do it fast, we had to walk slowly.

Marc. Walk round the training ground.

Daniel. Right next to the bushes.

Q. What is the point of that?

Tom. To teach you to do your job.

Adam. It teaches you.

Drew. Responsibility.

Pierre. Even though he was just in a bad mood but …

Adam. [Interrupts] He just makes them look an idiot in front of everyone.

1. Abuse

This point is along the same lines as the one above. Like many sports at the elite level, a lot of abusive behaviours are accepted as normal and you should be ready for it. There are places you can report these behaviours if you think they are going too far (see the end of this blog) but here are some of the players talking about the most common form of abuse, verbal abuse and intimidation:

Jay. Oh my God!

All: Gasp

Mike. Good luck still having a door on the hinges …

Jay. He would kick the shit out of the door.

Mike. Oh, Morecombe, the door actually came off, he actually booted it in. 1. He smashed the door in.

Jordan. When he kicked them bottles!

Intimidation takes many forms, at it is part and parcel of the world of elite sport. If you have been in an Academy for a while you will probably know this already. Here is another group of players discussing it:

Ali. Ah, he does love kicking a bottle to be fair.

Jon. On the side. He won’t be violent like but he will just raise his voice and he’ll

Ali. [Interrupts] Swear a lot.

Jon. Yeah, he will swear a lot

Ali. [Interrupts] Get in your face.

Jon. And say, that was embarrassing, blah, blah, blah, you’re taking the piss, sort it out basically.

And, finally, it is also worth pointing out that the swearing may be directed at you. In all cases, players noted that not answering back was important when faced with the kind of ‘coaching’ suggested here by these players fro a Premier League club.

Q. Do they ever swear at you when they’re having a go at you? All. Yeah.

Chester. Fucking hell, every time they have a go at you.

Q. What kinds of things would they say to you?

Ismael. Fucking shit.

Luca. Yeah.

Charlie. [The Coach] called me a ‘Fucking Muppet’ today like.

Harry. Muppet. Fucking Muppet.

Freddie. Cheeky cunt.

Q. Why do they do that?’

Luca. It’s just football isn’t it? That’s the way it goes. 3. It’s aggression, it brings it out of you dun’ it?

Places to report abuse:

The Football Association: [email protected]

The NSPCC: 0808 800 5000

The ENOUGH campaign: enough.campaign.gov.uk